rag rug - 2

My rag rug is progressing along nicely.  Although working with slightly shorter strips does aid in not getting you all tangled up.  Double bed width is a bit too long, single bed or jelly roll strips (42 inches) is just about right.  

I decided I need a little more colour variation and after seeing Lizzie's suggestion of using Jelly Rolls I remembered I had one Mum had bought for me that was just the right colours.  And as an added bonus I knew exactly where it was!

So now we have a bit more purple added and have started on the second lot of sheets.  I'm now adding a pink bit as we speak. Although my jelly roll is almost all gone so will need to think of a new plan :)

rag rug

Regular readers will probably remember me mentioning wanting to make a Rag Rug a few times.  I even had ear marked some vintage sheets with which to make the rug.  

So when Jodie from Ric Rac suggested a Rag-Rug-Along the other day it was just the push I needed to put my hand up and commit.  That and the fact that I'm now post-pregnancy and post-Christmas.  

After a lot of thought and a bit of a discussion with Jodie I opted for the braiding with weaving in as you go method, to negate the need for sewing the braids together at the end.  Although I think the braiding then sewing might be slightly quicker I like the idea that it's all done in one hit.

So here is my rug so far.  It's about the size of a small dinner plate.  This is 2 x 3 strips of 1.5 inches roughly.  Double bed sheet width.  It is time consuming weaving it in as you go cause you do get a little tangled and you do wind up with little wispy bits of thread everywhere.  But once I'm done, it is done.  No pesky sewing together.

Think this will be a slow burn project.  Just like the original idea I guess!

Might try a little of this in the down times....

rocket ship cake

It's that time of year again where Hubby Guy and I have to put on our thinking caps and try to match the cake making exploits of the year before.  This year's theme was a rocket ship cake.

Using a rocket Christmas decoration as inspiration Guy carved out the cake and assembled all the pieces, I then follow with the icing before he added the lolly decorations.  We've noticed that little Guy's fave part of most cakes, cupcakes, gingerbread men is the lollies.  So we went less for the nice icing job and more for the lolly decorations.

And true to form the little devil took a slice, ate all the lollies and gave the cake part back to me!  But he enjoyed himself so that's the main thing.

images of Christmas

It's Boxing Day here in Australia now, it's hot, we're watching the cricket and generally trying to relax.  Our Boxing Day generally involves a trip to the grocery store to get provisions for the Little Guy's birthday on the 27th.  No Boxing Day sales and bargain madness for us generally.

Here are a few images of our Christmas.

Mum's gingerbread tree

My trifle - my Grandmother always made trifle at Christmas - now I do it but with my own special twist!

The usual Gingerbread people but this year with smaller cutters

the most beautiful emerald green Christmas beetle flew into our house the other night, Guy and I had never seen one quite like it.

new casual chairs for the deck

a Ta-Dah of a different kind!

Hello everyone!  I'm back in the land of the living after a very hectic and up heaved couple of months.  The house is nearly finished and looking fab.  We've been able to move back in after over a month bunking with my Mum & Dad.

But the big ta-dah moment is the birth of our little baby girl!

On the 12/12 at 8.54 am Amelie Matisse was born.  Now I'm breaking my own rule here and I will let you have a little peek at my gorgeous princess.  She was 3.4kgs (7 pounds 9) and 50 cm long.

Big Brother Guy is so proud - as is Daddy Guy.  So far our beautiful little bundle is being very well behaved and doing all those things that bubbys do - sleeping, eating, burping, pooping.  Apparently one's 30+ body doesn't bounce back quite as quickly from a C section as my 25+ body did - but oh well, a small price to pay.

And for a touch of something crafty - check out these gorgeous plaques that my friend Amanda made.  she has the most amazing eye for detail and colour - although she claims to be craft-impaired.

 

quilting inspiration on the go #7

I've shown you photos of the revamped Boggo Road Jail precinct previously.  They now run a farmers/craft market there on Sundays so we headed out last week to have a look.

I love the buildings in this precinct and from where we sat we had a great view.

random happenings

First question of the day - why when we are expecting children do we feel compelled to undertake major renovation of our dwellings?  Or is it just dumb luck that these things seem to collide?  We've been planning this renovation of our home for 2 years - since we purchased the property.  How is it that now, 7 weeks before B-day (baby day), here I am counting the minutes until the kitchen can be measured and then made, wardrobes installed, carpet laid, laundry finished -etc etc etc.  We are currently kitchen-less, laundry-less, the toilet is still operational but I'm not holding my breath to see how long that will last.  We have a bathroom and our bedroom and little Guy's bedroom are the only rooms really that will undergo no renovation - but they are currently also stacked full of boxes of stuff from the rest of the house!  Anyway, I am actually much calmer about the whole situation than I (and Hubby Guy) thought I would be.  Here is a sample of the destruction/construction.

Aunty came back from Europe the other day and brought me these cute stitch markers from Loop - a yarn shop popular with Mollie Makes.

Then Mum, Aunty and I went to the Quilt & Craft show on Saturday.  It was really heartening to see that the show has actually grown in size and popluarity.  Although my stamina unfortunatly did not keep pace - I was wrecked by the end and didn't even take any photos of all the amazing quilts on show.  Picked up some cute, tiny crochet hooks - 2.5, 3 & 3.5mm.  And this cute santa ornament kit.  Pointed out a few things for Mum to buy me for my birthday too.

Found this cool shop.

And this lovely, local yarn shop.

Ok well that's enough rambling from me for a few days.  Might try and have a nap now!